Category Archives: karate kata

Half a Year of Karate!

Posted on July 30, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Do you know how much you can get done in Karate in a half a year?
The reason I say this is because the year is half over. So if you can remember what you were doing at Christmas, or New Years, and any resolutions or things, then you could have made a lot of things happen since them.

If you are studying a classical art, you could have gone through a belt rank or two. You could have a couple of martial arts forms, had a ball doing lots of kumite, and generally be fit and healthy, and your mind would be calm.
Now, if you had been studying my Matrixing program, you could actusally have your black belt by now. Serious. It’s a three month program, but it takes a lot of work. But six months is enough time to do a lot of work. So you could actually be there.
And, here’s something interesting, if you slacked off a little the last few months, maybe been distracted by the news or something, you can realize that every moment you live and don’t do what you love is a moment wasted.
Hey, if it’s not Karate, then what is it? Kung Fu? Yoga? Ballet? If you love it, then why aren’t you doing it?
Got a dream? You’ve had six months to pursue it. Didn’t do it? It’s not too late, so get yer fanny in gear and get going!
Don’t you understand? I’m telling you to ignore everything that gets in your way, everybody that slows you down or distracts you. I’m telling you that you should pick a goal, and having a black belt is an absolutely incredible goal, and GO FOR IT!
Now, do you want to go waste another night drinking beer, or do you want to be somebody? Do you want to be strong and fit and quick in the mind?
Okay, I’ve enjoyed this rant, and especially because I know it is so right and valuable. So spend the time between now and the end of the year working out and finding the real you. If I can help you reach your goals in Karate, if I can help you get to Black Belt, drop by my site, Monster Martial Arts. My email is there, and I answer all emails. See ya.

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Handling the Sword Attack with a Karate Technique from Pinan Five

Posted on July 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Mind you, a sword attack is not likely these days, but if you know the karate technique from Pinan Five then you can adapt pretty easily for other types of attacks. After all, a club is a short sword with no edge, a knife is a really short sword, and so on.
Pinan Five, also called Heian Five, has a move in it, about halfway through, where you raise your crossed wrists upward. This is the self defense technique we are looking at.
When doing this technique you must rush forward and make sure you apply it to the attacker’s wrists. Pretty silly to block a raw sword blade with your bare wrists.
You catch the attackers arm and push upward on the elbow and pull down the wrist. Then will translate into an armbar or elbow roll, and he will be pretty much at your mercy.
This is a real meat and potatoes technique, works for all sorts of stuff. After a while you will find yourself moving in and just grabbing and twisting the attacker’s arm. This is good. But, if you ever have trouble, you should have practiced the individual pieces, as prescribed by the Karate Form Pinan Five. Knowing the pieces will allow you to master the whole of the technique.
Check out this video, in which I teach this technique.

If you want to know more about the Karate techniques from Pinan Five, more than the sword attack I have just outlined, then drop by Learn Karate Online and check out the Kang Duk Won. This is a download and you could be seeing all the old, tried and true methods for self protection in less than a minute.

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Establishing the Perfect Karate Body!

Posted on July 18, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Use Your Perfect Body to Find Enlightenment!


Here is what Leo DaVinci said (from his notebooks) about the perfect shape. This would be the ‘Vitruvian Man.’ In looking over these figures I find myself less than perfect, and some things can’t be corrected. At any rate, it does some wonderful food for thought as to what type of karate you should study, what your ideal shape is for the martial arts, and so on.

‘The length of a man’s outspread arms is equal to his height.
From the roots of his hair to the bottom of his chin is the tenth of a man’s height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of man. The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man. The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face.’

This descirption does give me some problems. the main one is that I’m balding, so I either need to grow my body, or shrink my head. Hmmm.

Anyway, here is a further breakdown:
You should be
seven heads high
three heads shoulder to shoulder
four heads hips to toes
one head from tips of fingers to wrist
one head top to bottom of buttocks
two heads tips of fingers to elbow.

So, get out the measuring stick, measure your head, and find out if you are in perfect shape. Don’t be worried if you aren’t exactly in shape, Leo is said to have altered his measurements to suit his sculptures.
If you really want a perfect body, lean in muscle and able to move like lightening, you might want to check out Yogata (The Yoga Kata), it is Yoga designed by a martial artist for Martial Artists. Pick up a free book on the home page of the site.

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Secrets of the Horse Stance; Secrets of Real Karate Power

Posted on July 12, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A Horse Stance is a funny thing. You see it in forms, but you don’t see it in the ring. You train for hours in it, yet you don’t use it in freestyle. You love it, but you don’t know why, and yet people say it is the secret of real karate power.
A horse stance is also called Mabu (Chinese) and Kiba Dachi (Japanese). Check out the video, then I’ll tall you the real secret behind true karate power.

It is sometimes called the ‘horse riding stance,’ and there are many legends behind it.
Some say it is used to train in close combat while riding an actual horse.
Some say it is used to fight sideways in rice paddies.
Neither theory, while romantic, is true.
The true use of the horse stance is simply to grow a ‘rooting’ power. In Matrix Martial Arts we call this ‘grounding.’
The fact of the matter is that a machine must be bolted down, the body is a machine, and the stance is used to bolt the body to the earth. This enables it to have, grow, and use power.
When you do the horse stance you should have the feet parallel, and the hips should be tucked. You should be able to sit in the horse stance for long periods of time. You should feel a glow of energy happening in the belly as a result of horse stance training.
Now, you may not use the actual and official horse stance in your freestyle, or in the ring, but the power you have built you will use. In fact, the use of this power is what makes a real martial artist.
People who use muscles, and don’t know how to use the power of the tan tien, are not really doing the martial arts. It may be fighting, but it is not the art.
But, when you learn how to use that power in the spot an inch or two below the navel, then you are tapping into the real martial art. You learn to explode, to sustain, to grind, to use geometric figures in your art. Guaranteed: you learn the secrets of the Horse Stance, and the you will be tapping into the Secrets of Real Karate Power. There’s more information on the True Power of Karate at Learn Karate Online. Take a Free lesson while you’re there.

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Martial Arts Cross Training is The Way To Get Good!

Posted on June 8, 2011 by | Leave a comment


Okay, I do a lot of cross training in the martial arts. When I was doing Karate I did some weights, some running, basics calisthenics type of stuff.
When I did Kung Fu I did running and swimming and yoga type stuff.
And, as I went through arts, I was always looking from some new game to play, some way to wake up my muscles and find better ways to control them.
Baseball, loved baseball. Ping pong, billiards, skating, even pogo sticking and stilting.
Simply anything and everything was fair game. Wake the body up, have fun, relate it to martial arts.
But martial arts was the mainstay, this because the martial arts exercises every single muscle in the body.
And, there is a point to it all. Survival.
Now, I have to tell you I feel sorry for people who do exercises, but not martial arts. They play for a while, then they get old. I always come across old people who talk about how they loved to dance, but no longer do it. Or they loved to hike, but they no longer do it.
Do you see it? There is not only the whole body approach, but the purpose, and the desire to survive right through your old age.
Anyway, I know this is meandering, but if you aren’t doing the martial arts, start doing them. Find an art, any art, that appeals to your desire to live and love and play games and…survive. That’s what Martial Arts Cross Training is all about. Pick up a free book at Learn Karate Online. Best way to start.

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Most Powerful Punch Karate Training Methods!

Posted on June 7, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Good Karate Training will Give You the Most Powerful Punch!


I always liked the karate training methods for making the most powerful punch. Some of them worked…and some of them resulted in injury to the student. Here’s a quick rundown on them.
Bashing the fist against a tree. Damages the fist, sometimes badly, requiring even years to heal.
Punching a Makiwara. Okay, long as you don’t over do it. Fifty punches per hand is recommended by some.
Thrusting fingers into cauldrons of heated iron pellets. Right out of the kung fu movies. The real sequence is to thrust spear hands into sand, build up to pellets (over months and even years), and finally thrust them into iron pellets.
We used to spear hand the sand, and it worked, but it took time. I haven’t met anybody who has reached the iron pellet stage of training, but hey, go for it! Just make sure you use plenty of dit da jow hand curing herbal solutions.
Push ups on palms, then fists, then half fists, then outstretched fingers, then thumbs, then two fingers, then one finger. Fantstic training method. Works lke a charm. Takes the brute out of force and teaches that the secret of true muscularity is in balance.
And, there are others, but this should hold you for now. Gonna take a while to get on top of that single finger, right? Happy work outs to you, but this karate training method is guaranteed to give you the most powerful punch. BTW, pick up a free book while you’re on my site.

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Uncovering The Mysteries Of The Iron Horse Karate Kata

Posted on June 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment


Tekki Kata, also known as Haihanchi, is one of the best forms in all the martial arts. Many people refer to it as The Iron Horse. As this name indicates, it is a horse stance form, and the karateka moves from side to side while performing it.

The power generated by this Okinawan Karate form is absolutely awesome. The deep stance works the legs, and the tan tien starts to pump up, and one feels the chi power course through the frame almost from the get go. It is usually taught around black belt level in systems such as Kyokushinkai.

When I first learned Naihanchi I would practice while facing a partner and having ‘kata races.’ We would mirror each other, and go back and forth, building our speed and perfecting our moves. Eventually, we would find a harmony of motion that one will not see in many martial art patterns.

When I asked my instructor about it, he said it was designed for fighting in rice paddies. The footwork enabled one to grip the ground no matter how muddy. The sideways motion paralleled the earthwork in the rice paddies, where other foot patterns would result in loss of footing.

As my studies continued I came across the concept that the form was designed for riding a horse. Even if a warrior lost his weapons while riding a horse, he could keep fighting while gripping the horse with the leg strength built up by the form. I found this a fascinating notion, but it didn’t ring quite true.

In time, I happened across the book ‘Shotokan’s Secrets,’ written by Dr. Bruce Clayton. The good doctor claimed that the kata were actually designed for actual fighting in the Imperial throne room of old Okinawa. This theory at first seemed odd, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made.

Imagine the scene: invading troops attempt to capture the king of Okinawa, and the front row troops use the movements from the Pinan forms (Heian katas) to create confusion. Meanwhile, the advanced bodyguards move sideways across the back of the room while the king is hustled through a rear door and to safety. This theory not only made sense when analyzing the specific movements, but in the historical and psychological sense, too.

What the truth is will be debated as long as Karate is taught. Of course, it doesn’t matter as long as that fabulous form generates good, old fashioned ‘chi power’ by the bushel. Call it Naihanchi, Tekki, or just the Iron Horse, this is one Karate Kata that is good for the ages.

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Free Karate Lesson Online Nearly Done!

Posted on June 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Been working hard on this Free Karate Lesson Online. Check out the video, it’s a good example of how I take things apart so you really can understand them, and then I’ll tell you about the free Karate…

I wanted to cover stances, blocks, footwork, and get the student to actually do a small form. The trick is to keep it simple, and make sure the steps are quick and easy.
After all, people want to do the bam and slam of UFC type sports, and I want to convince them that Karate, as an art, has more to offer.
You don’t want to wrestle on the street.
You want to maximize your blocks and strikes.
You want to build some of that famous knock out power that Karate power is famous for.
On this last, you can’t develop this while wearing gloves. Gloves stop the transmittal of energy, and thereby the hands are demoted to mere bludgeons.
Anyay, check out the free lesson at my site, Learn Karate Online. And it really is free. I don’t even ask for your address. I’m figuring that the benefits of the lesson will be so obvious that people will want to sign up for the newsletter, or just order right on the spot. That’s Learn Karate Online.

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Karate Kata: The Translation from Pinan to Heian

Posted on June 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment


What does a Karate Kata mean? It’s a dance, it’s a book of techniques, it’s a method for controlling and teaching large numbers of people without the need for data. It’s zen, it’s one thing at a time, it’s a belt arrangement system.
It’s a recent invention that dates back two thousand years…and it shows you exactly and precisely and where to place them clodhoppers you call feets. It’s data arranged out of order in a set sequence. Whatever they are, do them long enough and you will know Karate.
Well, maybe. Maybe not. After all if Gichin Funakoshi is to be believed, Karate is changing and changing…here is his direct quote.
“Hoping to see Karate included in the universal physical education taught in our public schools, I set about revising the kata so as to make them as simple as possible. Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The Karate that high school students practice today is not the same Karate that was practiced even as recently as ten years ago [this book was written in 1956], and it is a long way indeed from the Karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa.”
The classical Kata attributed to Gichin Funakoshi are called Heian. This writer learned, from a lineage other than the Japanese, Karate forms called Pinan. And there were distinct and stark differences between the two.
The Heian are violent, forward stancing, explosive, in your face, one punch one kill. The Pinan have focus in the fist, work out of the more defensive back stance, modify the explosion exactly to the work being performed, are subtle and polite, and believe in getting along with your fellow man.
Of course, my bias holds, the Pinans are better. They were created before the young turks of the Japanese college system altered them for tournaments and power and fighting and power and glory and power and…well, power. The Pinans were created before lust was in vogue.
Of course, that said, this writer’s bias taken into account, one can modify the forms back to the way they were. All one has to do is adjust the angles and modify the mind. Ahh, modify the mind…perhaps it is not possible…but one can hope.
If you would like to view the original Pinans, maybe even take a free Karate lesson, try Learn Karate Online.

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The Importance of Pinan Five (Heian Five) Karate Kata

Posted on June 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Perfection of Body...Perfection of Character!


Back in 1967, when I was studying Kenpo Karate, I used to drive my instructors crazy. I kept coming in with books and doing forms out of them. Specifically, from the Best Karate Series by Nakayma, I found first Heian Two Karate Kata, then Heian Five, and I was in heaven.
I loved the power of those stances, I loved the feeling in the air when I did those whole body movements.
And, of particular interest to me was the art of the jump. I figured out how to swing the leg and rock the body into a launch. I figured out how to pull those legs high up under me, and then land low. The idea was to jump over a low sword swing, and then land under a high sword swing.
These are things that you don’t learn in MMA. I have nothing against MMA, I just don’t study it because it is sport instead of art.
The intent of sport is to beat another person, the intent of art is refine the self (achieve perfection).
I don’t mean to speak ill of other physical disciplines, because there is something to be learned from all, and darn, there is a part of me that just loves a good competition. But when it comes to my personal evolution, I prefer the art, and to this day, near forty-five years later, I still practice the Karate Kata known as Heian Five, or as it was called in the traditional martial arts school I later went to…Pinan Two. Check out my site for Evolution of an Art, it has three complete classical martial arts, dozens of forms, hundreds of techniques, and all sorts of things that will aid you evolution as a martial artist.

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